This unusual plant, unique to Haleakala on Maui and Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii, has thoroughly adapted to the harsh environment of its home.
What's even more fascinating is that each volcanic mountain has it's own unique type of silversword.
The Haleakala species is unique to all the world on Maui and is considered by many to be the most beautiful.
The bloom stalk of the silversword is a beautiful sight often several feet tall with a hundred or more purple/red flowers.
What makes the blooming of a silversword even more special is that the plants may live from 15 to more than 90 years.
They bloom only once and then scatter their seeds to the wind and die.
If you see one in bloom, take a moment to realize how unique and special this opportunity really is.
In the not so distant past on Maui there were so many silverswords on Haleakala, but because of livestock feral goats and wild pigs as well as workers and visitors taking portions for souvenirs, this amazing plant almost became extinct.

In 1927, perhaps fewer than 100 plants existed on the slopes of Haleakala. It was ultimately the creation of Haleakala National Park that saved the Haleakalā Silversword.
The protection and work of many dedicated groups and individuals has brought them back from the brink of extinction in 1927 to more than 40,000 today.
Yet even now they are still endangered and the silversword is at high risk in its fragile environment.
If you visit the summit on our beautiful island please don't touch them or even walk near them, as you could damage their very delicate root structures beneath your feet.
The Haleakalā silversword, Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. macrocephalum, has numerous sword-like succulent leaves covered with silver hairs.
Silversword plants in general grow on volcanic cinder, a dry, rocky substrate that is subject to freezing temperatures and high winds.
The skin and hairs are strong enough to resist the wind and freezing temperature of this altitude and protect the plant from dehydration and the sun.
The plant's base of leaves, arranged in a spherical formation at ground level of the plant, dominates for the majority of the plant's life, which may be greater than 50 years and some say more than a century.
The leaves are arranged so that they and the hairs of the leaves can raise the temperature of the shoot-tip leaves up to 20 °C (68 °F), thereby having adapted to the extreme high-altitude temperatures by focusing the sunlight to converge at this point and warm the plant.

At senescence, which often occurs when the plant reaches a diameter of approximately 0.5 metres (1.6 ft), the plant produces a tall stalk of maroon ray flowers which resemble the sunflower in just a few weeks.
Flowering usually occurs from July through October. This flowering stalk may have up to 600 heads of up to 40 outlying ray flowers and 600 disk flowers and is pollinated by flying insects like Hylaeus (Nesoprosopis) volcanicus.
The flower stalk may reach up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height and has numerous tiny sticky hairs to prevent crawling insects from damaging the plant.
Seeding of the plant is very sensitive because damage to the flowers or stalk by insects before reseeding further hinders the threatened species’ propagation.
The leaves become limp and dry as the monocarpic plant then goes to seed and dies.

Before the National Park Service was granted control of Haleakalā volcano, visitors to the volcano's summit often participated in the common practice of uprooting a silversword plant and then rolling it on the jagged lava rock terrain, (can you imagine) and drying the flowers for arrangements, or using the plant as kindling. Because the delicate, shallow root structure can be crushed by walking in the rocks around the plant, they are very sensitive to foreign elements.

Feeding by feral goats also severely damaged many plants and prevented reproduction. Ungulates are now fenced out of the crater area and the species is legally protected from damage by humans.
Silversword alliance refers to an adaptive radiation of over 50 species in the composite or sunflower family, Asteraceae.
The group is endemic to Hawaiʻi, and is derived from a single immigrant to the islands.
For radiating from a common ancestor at an estimated 5.2±0.8 Ma, the clade is extremely diverse, composed of trees, shrubs, subshrubs, mat-plants, cushion plants, rosette plants, and lianas.
The Silversword Alliance is named for its most famous and visually striking members, the Silverswords.
There are three species of Silverswords and two Greenswords in the genus Argyroxiphium, confined to the islands of Maui and Hawaii, and two species of Wilkesia (iliau) on Kauai.
The bulk of the species are placed in the genus Dubautia, which is widespread on all the main islands. . Quote from Wikipedia . .
For more information on ʻĀhinahina - Argyroxiphium sandwicense - Haleakalā Silversword
vist Wikipedia and http://www.nps.gov/hale/naturescience/silversword.htm
as well as http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/pacn/parks/hale.cfm

Flora and Fauna that exist nowhere else in the world - To see the ʻĀhinahina - Hawaiian Silversword in bloom is truly special . .
This image was photographed this morning on the summit of Haleakalā 06 August 2013 08/06/2013 – 0558 hours 05:58:49 AM HST
This is at eye level at 10,000 feet above sea level on the summit of Haleakalā this morning at sunrise . .
From the roof of Maui what you see behind the ʻĀhinahina is the sun rising over the slopes and ridges of Haleakalā crater down below . . Good Morning Maui . .

I wanted to take a little time out to tell you how wonderful all of your images are. Your hard work and dedication is truly exceptional. I can see the time you must spend to bring them all to us, And for that we are truly grateful. I have spent much time over the past few days looking at your images and reading your wonderful words. How amazing it is to have such a beautiful soul showing us the true beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. We are wishing for you and your family to please have a very sweet and safe New Year.
This silhouette is very special... Marvelous work :) Fv Vt